AGCM

As a result of consumer reports and a preliminary investigation carried out on its own initiative, the Authority has decided to initiate two separate proceedings for unfair commercial practices against the companies of the Samsung group and the Apple group operating in Italy. In particular, professionals set up a general commercial policy aimed at exploiting the shortcomings of some components in order to reduce the performance of their products over time and induce consumers to purchase new versions of the said products; they then proposed software updates to customers for their mobile phones without reporting the possible consequences of this update and without providing sufficient information in order to maintain an adequate level of performance of these devices, promoted and purchased for their specific and eminent technological features. Such conduct may be in breach of articles 20, 21, 22 and 24 of the Italian Consumer Code.

To this end, the Authority has carried out inspections at the offices of the professionals, for which it made use of the collaboration of the Special Antitrust Unit of the Guardia di Finanza, assisted by the servicemen of the Special Technological Frauds Unit of the same Corps for the technical aspects of the operations.

Rome, 18 January 2018